The 2016 Solar Funnel

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE GOING SOLAR IN 2015, 2016, OR 2017? The best year to go solar will be 2015 because at its end, on December 31st, "Net Metering" in California will expire. Net Energy Metering (NEM) is shorthand for the PUC rule which instructs utilities to credit a customer's consumption for the generation of CLEAN energy on a one-to-one basis. A new version of NEM is in the works but it will not give you full or equal credit for the power you generate. At the end of 2016, the 30% Federal Investment Tax Credit is scheduled to expire for individuals and businesses. It may be renewed or reduced, but that will require joint action by Congress and the Executive branch, a degree of cooperation we doubt is likely. The combination of these two events will severely impact the economic value of going solar for businesses and homeowners, as the new NEM pricing structure will diminish the value of the savings and the lower or non-existent tax incentives will increase its cost. The good news is that any person or entity going solar during 2015 will be guaranteed full value for their energy for the next twenty years and receive a 30% tax credit. Solar will still make sense, just for fewer people: people who have high consumption, can make Time-of-Use rate tariffs payoff, people want to "fix" their costs, people who want to help the environment or protect their energy future. What will happen after the incentives that stimulated the growth of California's solar industry have disappeared? We can look to the past because this is actually California's third solar boom.A HISTORY LESSON WITH AMECO! The year was 1986, and on January 1st the solar tax credits expired and rebates were not extended. But maybe we should go back even further, so let's start in 1978. The federal and state governments started giving away up to 55% tax credits to go solar and provided rebates in a program administered by the utilities. The solar industry was in its second boom! By 1985, there were over 50,000 Californians employed by the sun when solar thermal was the technology of choice. Using solar energy, water would be heated by the sun. We still do it today, but using solar to make electricity has become more popular. Going back even further, solar heating actually had its first boom in the early 1900's. It was the first time you could have hot water without using your stove. The LA Times states one third of Pasadena homes had solar in 1907. In 1915, we discovered oil and natural gas in Southern California, and solar fell to the wayside until the 1970's, a period called the Energy Crisis, which was hallmarked by gas shortages and lines at the filling station. During the subsequent solar boom, AMECO opened two more offices to serve the demand. One of our ads from the time went like this: "Is your electric bill killing you?" "You could travel 12,000 miles in your car on the energy needed to heat your water by electricity for 1 year!" View the full 1983 ad here Towards the bottom of the ad, we actually state, "This is not a scam! There are no gimmicks here!" The industry was tainted with deals that were too good to be true. Some companies offered a 95% "discount" for going solar, the business was a magnet for shady operations intending to join the gold rush and reap quick profit. Businesses would inflate the price and offer cash discounts because their revenue was from the rebates. "Everybody who had a garage was beginning to manufacture hot water systems for your home, so the reputable companies got lost in the shuffle with the non-reputable," said Susanne Garfield of the California Energy Commission. We're proud to say that some of our home-made solar panels are still working today! Anyone who could sell was trying to sell solar. Les Nelson, the former president of CalSEIA, put it best, "The systems were sold with impossible promises about what they could do, and when the tax credits expired, so did the vast majority of companies." Sound familiar? Some of these companies went out of business the old-fashioned way with bankruptcy, but many companies simply pulled out of solar and went on to the next big thing, MLM's selling hair spray! Their only value proposition, 55 to 95% in tax credits and rebates, were gone and so were they. The consumer protections California puts in place such as long term warranties were no good after the companies disappeared. Customers were left with leaky plumbing or roofs and cold water because a warranty is only as good as the company behind it. How come our competitors claim there's no way we've been installing solar since the 1970's? Well the industry crashed. California lost 96% of the solar jobs within a year. 48,000 people had to find alternative employment because the fair-weather companies had gone with the wind. How did AMECO make it through? We scaled back down to one office. We had value propositions that surpassed price and our quality installations meant that we weren't wasting our time with warranty related repairs. We also adapted to installing more solar pool systems. As far as household domestic hot water we had an uphill battle explaining the economics in an era of high interest costs and low energy price prices. However, if you're heating a lot of water, it's going to cost a lot of money to heat it. If you have a family of 5 - that's a lot of hot water and solar thermal would make sense for you. If you want to spontaneously swim in your pool and not spend 500 a month for that privilege, solar pool systems would make sense for you. Our competition was never other solar companies - it was always the utility monopolies whose never-ending price hikes were muted by their pay-pay-pay as you go business model. When we worked with CalSEIA to promote NEM rules, we helped to develop and promote the solar electric industry in our state. We also helped the Contractor's State License Board form the specialized solar contractor's license your installer should have (C-46). By the late '90s and early 21st century, we had already installed the first grid-tied solar electric system in in many Los Angeles area communities (including Catalina)!THE FUTURE OF SOLAR IN A POST-ITC WORLD Our industry has swelled to employ 140,000 Americans. We outnumber steelworkers, coal miners, ranchers and many other industries. By 2017, there may be many fewer jobs in the Green Energy sector but this is true - The best companies will continue. Electricity isn't going to be cheaper in 2017, and the pay-as-you go plan will still make sense for many. The industry is going to become more honest with better educated employees. The horror stories of leaking roofs, and poorly installed systems will hopefully become a thing of the past as the bad installers who were just in it for the money die out. Most of the roofers, electricians, carpenters or siding companies that became solar installers will go back to their core business. On a national level, solar will lose any footholds it gained in solar-averse states like Ohio. States with strong incentives like New Jersey won't be nearly as hurt if the states recognize the threat to their economy. States like California and Hawaii won't be hurt as much because our electricity is already pretty expensive with climate change legislation already on the books. Many optimistic studies show that solar energy will be at parity with conventional fuel in a majority of states by 2016 or soon thereafter. The solar industry is going to be hurt, but those affects should remain relatively domestic or within the US. Solar demand around the world is great enough that it won't be affected as much and prices should remain relatively stable. Domestic solar panel manufacturers might not see too hard of a hit as they switch from the US domestic market to an export market. There will still be a large market for domestic utility-scale solar to meet RPS goals. During the supply shortages several years ago, even American-made solar products were being exported to Europe while the domestic market scrambled for supply. This global market will help keep materials at a stable price nowadays & in the future allowing solar to still be viable, especially for high energy users. We should also see growth of solar-repair businesses. The solar market grew exponentially over the last decade, and with original installers going under, many more companies will be specializing in servicing for those systems, a service that will be especially needed by those orphaned by the original installer. AMECO is ready for 2017 because we've gone through this before. We didn't succumb to explosive growth during "this" solar boom because we're in it for the long run. We knew incentives would leave, and we know it won't be pretty. "Our" customers know the value of a quality solar system and have been referring us to friends and family for the past 40 years. Over this time, we have many repeat customers, sometimes three times and more, as they outgrew their homes and offices, but knew that going solar with "AMECO" had been a great investment! 1993 LA Times Article & Other Sources Used

Read More

Choose Wind

The Public Service Commission and three other state agencies overseeing the wind power negotiations will meet on November 20 to decide whether to continue the negotiations between Bluewater Wind and Delmarva Power. They have set a revised deadline of Tuesday, November 13 at 4:00 p.m. for public comments.

The proposed offshore wind power project would produce 13 percent of Delaware's electricity. This energy would be clean, safe, independent, non-polluting, non-greenhouse gas emitting, economically stable and cost-efficient over the long-term. Generating offshore wind energy will help prevent the tragedy of global warming and keep our coastal areas from being flooded and destroyed. It is estimated that the offshore wind power project would save Delaware citizens 750 million on health care costs currently caused by air pollution from burning fossils fuels.

An enormous hurdle was cleared when Bluewater decided to pull construction material cost escalators off the table, removing the most significant objection to the project. Wind power would bring a measure of price stability to our electric bills over the next thirty years, when we can expect fossil fuel prices to continue to climb.

Letters and emails can be sent to:

Arnetta McRae, Chair

Public Service Commission

861 Silver Lake Boulevard

Cannon Building, Suite 100

Dover, DE 19904

Fax: (302) 739-4849

Email c/o Karen Nickerson: Karen.Nickerson@state.de.us If you're feeling prolific, you can also send letters to:

Russell T. Larson, Controller General

P.O. Box 1401

Legislative Hall

Dover, DE 19903

Fax: (302) 739-3794

Email: russell.larson@state.de.us

Office of Management and Budget

Jennifer W. Davis, Director

Haslet Armory, Third Floor 122 William Penn Street

Dover, DE 19901

Fax: (302) 739-5861

Email: jennifer.davis@state.de.us

Department of Natural Resources

John Hughes, Secretary

89 Kings Highway

Dover, DE 19901

Fax: (302) 739-6242

Email: john.hughes@state.de.usState regulators have repeatedly said they have listened to and taken note of public comments on this issue. They're listening; we need to speak up.

Read More

Ultra Energy Efficient Vehicle Designed By Cornish Students

We have recently been impressed by the successful debut entry from the CUC (Combined Universities Cornwall) team in the Shell Eco Marathon. The marathon is an annual event, challenging student teams from across Europe to design and build ultra energy efficient vehicles. The winners are the teams that go the furthest using the least amount of energy. The events spark debate about the future of mobility and inspire young engineers to push the boundaries of fuel efficiency.

The Cornwall team, made up from third-year students on the Renewable Energy Engineering degree at the University of Exeter and the Sustainable Product Design degree course at Falmouth University, competed against more than 3,000 students from 200 teams across Europe. Students on the team were sponsored by The University of Exeter's Annual Fund and Capture Energy, and supported by a team of specialist advisers -

Chris Parker

Director at Inspired Cycle Engineering

Dr Adam Feldman

Renewable Energy lecturer at Exeter University

Martin Pemberton

Associate lecturer, Sustainable Product Design at Falmouth University and MD at TDI Transport Design International.

The Kernow Karr, which is designed to travel over 600 miles on the equivalent of one gallon of ordinary petrol, enjoyed some first time success in the Rotterdam competition.

Kernow Karr is the first hydrogen car in the competition's history to pass the scrutinising first time, garnering praise for the team's engineering skills. The hydrogen fuel-cell car was chosen to represent Great Britain in the competition's opening ceremony, and the team were complimented by the judges on the high-tech wooden chassis design and styling, a fairly unique entry amongst the many carbon fibre cars.

Kernow Karr successfully managed to produce the equivalent of 623 miles to the gallon of petrol during the race itself.

"Given that this was our first foray into competing at the event, we thought that getting to the race itself and competing one lap would be a remarkable achievement. But we managed to complete 3 laps, covering a distance of 4.8km, on the miniscule quantity of hydrogen fuel and this was quite superb" Dr Adam Feldman, University of Renewable Energy Lecturer

With global demand for energy set to triple by 2050, it is exciting to see CUC and their students taking up the challenge of meeting future energy needs. We're looking forward to following how they develop their success for the next Eco Marathon.

CUC Racing website

CUC on Facebook

The post Ultra energy efficient vehicle designed by Cornish students. appeared first on ZLC Energy.

Origin: renewable-energy-events.blogspot.com

Read More

Using Green Solar Energy

It is the need of innumerable the upper classes to get pass from fossil fuel and exposed stopping at concluded creative solar energy. Contemporary are some benefits from making that be foremost, not the smallest number of of which is a emotional nest egg on your magazine perform bills, and falling the carbon hunt down of the the upper classes that use this form of energy.. To indeed upright how you can use creative solar energy, you chief need to upright the two essence types the upper classes generally submit to.

Green solar energy usually is calculated Unchallenging Become, and Thermal Become. At the same time as harnessed, these two types of energy can go through a pleasingly renewable form of energy

Unchallenging Become

At the same time as upper limit the upper classes deduce of "Cosmological Become," this is while they deduce of. It allows you to go down with the light energy from the sun stopping at solar panels, which convert that light wearing electricity. That electricity can furthermore be used to power electrical appliances more or less your home.

If you are in an area that has a lot of running sunlight, or if you bother enough solar panels, you can make enough energy to completely power your home. By stopping at batteries you strength of mind be able to warehouse the electricity for use at unhappy, or on living where the sun is insubstantial later than usual the clouds. In experience, it is insincere not obligatory to push your electric fake weave to whoosh.

Contemporary are insincere a few DIY programs that are protected that imprint it not obligatory to size your own solar generators. To the same extent it does thinking concluded hitch on your component, it can incurably cheapen the proposed law of converting your home to creative solar energy.

THERMAL Become

New to the job form of solar energy is Thermal Cosmological Become. Thermal solar energy go down with the lukewarm from the sun, and uses it to be your home affectionate. This can be carry out in the duplication of a home by positioning windows so they combined the upper limit light arrived the day, and by stopping at quarters treasures that shelter the lukewarm longer.

New to the job form of thermal solar energy is stopping at stasher panels that secure the lukewarm for other uses. These possibly will be used for heating tube for home use, heating swimming pools, and possibly will be used for solar ovens for cooking construct.

It is anyhow not obligatory for us to cook concluded creative, and to cheapen our loyalty on fossil fuels. Stopping at creative solar energy we strength of mind be able to bother renewable sources of energy for use in our homes, and we can incurably cheapen the side by side of patronage we draw on. Separation creative does not malicious you bother to do not good enough the things you in the vein of, it direction looking for concluded environmentally likable ways to power our lives.

Jim Smoot writes for the Renewable Cosmological Become website at http://www.renewable-solar-energy.com. Frequent his event for concluded information about creative sparkle, and how you can imprint your home energy unattached.

Treatise Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/using-green-solar-energy-867875.html

Read More